It’s not hard to imagine Audrey Hepburn perusing her rose gardens in this dreamy European getaway. The Swiss villa that was owned by the Old Hollywood star for the last 30 years of her life is officially for sale for $20.8 million. Nestled in the picturesque municipality of Tolochenaz near Lausanne (just about a 30-minute drive from Geneva airport), this 18th century farmhouse offers a glimpse into the private world of one of Hollywood’s most beloved icons.
Audrey Hepburn Dotti pushing her son, Luca, in a carriage, in her garden in Italy.
Hepburn lived in this cherished retreat, which she called ‘La Paisible’ meaning ‘peaceful place,’ for three decades, from 1963 until her death in 1993 (she’s buried in the town’s cemetery). After her death, Hepburn’s sons sold the 18th-century farmhouse to Katharina and Jean-Marc Beaujolin in 2001. The couple was looking for a property to bring up their six children, Katharina told Bloomberg in an interview, and fell in love with this generously sized house. Now, more than two decades later, the couple is ready to move on.
“We’ve decided to do some downsizing, because it’s just the two of us in this big house, and it felt like the right moment to make a change,” Katharina explained.
The living room features large windows that look out over the 40-acre estate.
The 10,800-square-foot villa looks plucked straight from a fairytale. It features 21 rooms, including 12 bedrooms and eight bathrooms across three floors. There’s also a library and loft space for guests. Its charm is preserved through historic details such as terracotta floors, oak parquet, and five original period fireplaces, alongside modern updates that the Beaujolins made in 2001.
Hepburn’s refined taste for interiors notwithstanding, after 30 years without a refresh, some updates were in order, Katharina tells Bloomberg. “The decoration was Audrey Hepburn’s and it was wow—a lot of flowers everywhere on the curtains, and it was perhaps a bit out of fashion.” The couple moved the kitchen to a more prominent location in the house and modernized it. They also updated the bathrooms, electrical systems, and added some bedrooms.
The kitchen was renovated in 2001.
Despite such updates, many of Hepburn’s touches still remain, she adds. From the kitchen, one can spy a lineup of rose gardens that were gifted to the actress from the Givenchy fashion house. Audrey Hepburn and Hubert de Givenchy were close friends and collaborators for over 40 years. Hepburn wore Givenchy in many of her films and in her personal life.
“When Audrey Hepburn turned 60, she got 60 white rose bushes sent and had a rose garden planted, and half of those are still there,” Katharina said, though she admitted some didn’t survive over time.
See Inside Audrey Hepburn’s Swiss Home
The estate is set on a serene 40-acre lot that is surrounded by a wall of hedges on one side, and a large open space of parkland and trees on the other. There’s also a 50-foot-long heated swimming pool on the property. The house is close to the center of town with mountain views.
For those interested in very literally stopping and smelling the roses, as Hepburn did, know that the resident of this house will get occasional visitors stopping by to snap photos of the home’s exterior plaque bearing Hepburn’s name. For Katharina, it was never intrusive, but rather touching.
“She died more than 30 years ago now, and that people still want to see where she lived shows how much she meant to people,” she noted.
Rachel Silva is the associate digital editor at ELLE DECOR, where she covers all things design, architecture, and lifestyle. She also oversees the publication’s feature article coverage, and is, at any moment, knee-deep in an investigation on everything from the best spa gifts to the best faux florals on the internet right now. She has more than 16 years of experience in editorial, working as a photo assignment editor at Time and acting as the president of Women in Media in NYC. She went to Columbia Journalism School, and her work has been nominated for awards from ASME, the Society of Publication Designers, and World Press Photo.
